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Search For Life on Mars
Ok, not Mars. Not just yet, at least. Researchers have created really cool science project called MAPPER. The idea is to leverage citizen scientists to comb through data and find signs of life on far away planets. For now, they have tapped into a couple of DeepWorker bots currently exploring the depths of two lakes in Canada. It's more or less a groundwork (or more like underwater groundwork, I guess) project to lay down the foundations for a system that could be used on other planets. The system uses a cool web interface that should be immediately recognizable to anyone who plays games. Taking a clue from modern gaming, the scientists have built in social media and achievements. Let's be honest – who DOESN'T want to unlock the 'Found Life On Other Planet' achievement?
Via Gizmodo
2 Replies to "Search For Life on Mars"
John This post has no title. DId you lose it?
Frank This is what happens when I try to do too many things at once 🙂 Should be there now!
Comments are closed.


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Texty písní » 50 Cent - High All The Time
I don't need Dom Perignon, I don't need Cris
Tanqueray and Alize, I don't need shit
Nigga I'm high all the time, I smoke that good shit
I stay high all the time, man I'm on some hood shit
Give me some dro, purple haze, and some chocolate
Give me a dutch and a lighter I'll spark shit
And stay high all the time, I smoke that good shit
I'm high all the time, man I'm on some hood shit
[Verse 1]
Everytime I ROLL up, niggas holla ROLL up, and I tell'em HOLD up,
You ain't gettin money you ain't smoking
In my Benzo, 20 inch Lorenzos, smoking on indo
Hiiigh as a motherfucker
I be on them backstreets, niggas know I clap heat, only if you got beef
Man you better holla at me
Niggas get locked up, stabbed up, shot up
Everytime I pop up, a lot going on in my hood
I shoot the dice, I holler get'em girls
Daddy need new shoes
Daddy need Perelli's to look mean on 22s
Stash box, Xbox, laptop, fax machine, phone
Bulletproof this bitch and I'm gone
2003 Suburban swerving, too many sips of Henny
The D's sick, they searched the whip and they can't find the semis
They was just harassing me cause they know who I was
Spent the night in Central Booking for smoking some bud
[Verse 2]
Now if you heard I done started some shit
It ain't because I be high (I be high, I be high)
And if you heard I done let off a clip
It ain't because I be high (I be high, I be high)
But I- twist that la, la, la, la
I get high as I wanna nigga
Go against me, fa sho, you's a goner nigga
I don't smoke to calm my nerves but I got beef
Finna crush my enemies like I crush the hashish
If you love me, tell me you love me, don't stare at me man
I'd hate to be in the Benz clapping one of my fans
Let me show you how to greet me, when you meet me, when you see me
If you real my nigga, you know how to holla "G-Unit!"
There's no competition, it's just me,
50 Cent, motherfucker, I'm hot on these streets
If David could go against Goliath with a stone
I can go at Nas and Jigga, both for the throne
[Verse 3]
Now who you know besides me who write lines and squeeze nines
And have hoes in the hood sniffin on white lines
You don't want me to be your kid's role model
I'll teach them how to buck them 380s and load up them hollows
Have shorty fresh off the stoop, ready to shoot
Big blunt in his mouth, deuce deuce in his boot
Sit in the crib, sippin Guinness, watching Menace
Then Oh Lord, have a young nigga bucking shit like he O-Dog
My team they depend on me when it's crunch time
I eat a nigga food in broad day like it's lunchtime
You feeling brave nigga, go ahead get gully
See if I won't leave your brains leaking up out your skully
I done made myself hot, so ain't shit you can tell me
Niggas calling me to feature, man fuck your money
I ain't hurtin, I'm aight, nigga I'm doin good
I ain't got to write rhymes, I got bricks in the hood
G-Unit, are you ready
G-Unit, are you ready
G-Unit, are you ready
Nigga, ready or not, here I come, come, come
Přidal: Ondra dne 01. 02. 2005 v 11:04.
Počet zobrazení: 389 (0).
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subset: commoncrawl


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Student Services
The Department of Student & Staff Support works collaboratively with departments across the central office to support the development of healthy, safe, and thriving school communities that create a true sense of belonging for all stakeholders. This includes support in the following areas:
We believe that students, staff and families of all races, ethnicities, faiths, home languages, immigration statuses, disabilities, sexual orientations and gender identities are valuable members of our community. By creating positive supportive relationships, we will cultivate a sense of belonging for all. Four foundation practices feed this work; Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), Restorative Justice (RJ), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS).
Our school-based support teams work collaboratively, in partnership with teachers, administrators, families, and community organizations, to design and deliver customized student supports. The primary purpose of this team is to create environments that maximize opportunities for learning and ensure that all students develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to achieve personal success in college, career, and community.
Comprehensive school mental health services help educators prevent and respond to crises while fostering a school climate that supports teaching and learning. We can improve student outcomes through social and emotional supports by building positive relationships and increasing school engagement to help concentrate on learning.
Our department is committed to the physical, mental, and behavioral well-being of all students and staff in MMSD. We pride ourselves on supporting every school to be thriving school where every child graduates college, career, and community ready.
Supports the health and wellness of individual students and school communities through a wide array of direct and indirect health services including screening, communicable disease surveillance, and care coordination.


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Section 1D: Statewide educational goals; academic standards; vocational training; grant program
Section 1D. The board shall establish a set of statewide educational goals for all public elementary and secondary schools in the commonwealth.
The board shall direct the commissioner to institute a process to develop academic standards for the core subjects of mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, English, foreign languages and the arts. The standards shall cover grades kindergarten through twelve and shall clearly set forth the skills, competencies and knowledge expected to be possessed by all students at the conclusion of individual grades or clusters of grades. The standards shall be formulated so as to set high expectations of student performance and to provide clear and specific examples that embody and reflect these high expectations, and shall be constructed with due regard to the work and recommendations of national organizations, to the best of similar efforts in other states, and to the level of skills, competencies and knowledge possessed by typical students in the most educationally advanced nations. The skills, competencies and knowledge set forth in the standards shall be expressed in terms which lend themselves to objective measurement, define the performance outcomes expected of both students directly entering the workforce and of students pursuing higher education, and facilitate comparisons with students of other states and other nations.
The standards shall provide for instruction in at least the major principles of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Federalist Papers. They shall be designed to inculcate respect for the cultural, ethnic and racial diversity of the commonwealth and for the contributions made by diverse cultural, ethnic and racial groups to the life of the commonwealth. The standards may provide for instruction in the fundamentals of the history of the commonwealth as well as the history of working people and the labor movement in the United States. The standards shall provide for instruction in the issues of nutrition and exercise. The standards may provide for instruction in the issues of physical education, human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome education, violence prevention, including teen dating violence, bullying prevention, conflict resolution and drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse prevention. The board may also include the teaching of family life skills, financial literacy and consumer skills, and basic career exploration and employability skills. The board may also include in the standards a fundamental knowledge of technology education and computer science and keyboarding skills; the major principles of environmental science and environmental protection; and an awareness of global education and geography. The board may set standards for student community service-learning activities and programs. The board may also institute a process for drawing up additional standards in other areas of education.
Academic standards shall be designed to avoid perpetuating gender, cultural, ethnic or racial stereotypes. The academic standards shall reflect sensitivity to different learning styles and impediments to learning. The board shall develop procedures for updating, improving or refining standards, but shall ensure that the high quality of the standards is maintained. A copy of said standards shall be submitted to the joint committee on education at least sixty days prior to taking effect. The standards shall also include criteria for three determinations or certificates as follows:
(i) The ''competency determination'' shall be based on the academic standards and curriculum frameworks for tenth graders in the areas of mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, foreign languages, and English, and shall represent a determination that a particular student has demonstrated mastery of a common core of skills, competencies and knowledge in these areas, as measured by the assessment instruments described in section one I. Satisfaction of the requirements of the competency determination shall be a condition for high school graduation. If the particular student's assessment results for the tenth grade do not demonstrate the required level of competency, the student shall have the right to participate in the assessment program the following year or years. Students who fail to satisfy the requirements of the competency determination may be eligible to receive an educational assistance plan designed within the confines of the foundation budget to impart the skills, competencies and knowledge required to attain the required level of mastery. The parent, guardian or person acting as parent of the student shall have the opportunity to review the remedial plan with the student's teachers. Nothing in this section shall be construed to provide a parent, guardian, person acting as a parent or student with an entitlement to contest the proposed plan or with a cause of action for educational malpractice if the student fails to obtain a competency determination.
(ii) The ''certificate of mastery'' shall be based upon a determination that the recipient has demonstrated mastery of a comprehensive body of skills, competencies and knowledge comparable to that possessed by accomplished graduates of high school or equivalent programs in the most advanced education systems in the world. The criteria for a certificate of mastery may incorporate a number of factors which may include, but not be limited to, any of the following: high school graduation standards, superior performance on advanced placement tests administered by the educational testing service, and demonstrated excellence in areas not reflected by the state's assessment instruments, such as artistic or literary achievement. Eligibility for potential receipt of a certificate of mastery shall extend to all secondary students residing in the commonwealth.
(iii) The ''certificate of occupational proficiency'' shall be awarded to students who successfully complete a comprehensive education and training program in a particular trade or professional skill area and shall reflect a determination that the recipient has demonstrated mastery of a core of skills, competencies and knowledge comparable to that possessed by students of equivalent age entering the particular trade or profession from the most educationally advanced education systems in the world. No student may receive said certificate of occupational proficiency without also having acquired a competency determination.
Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a student from beginning a program of vocational education before achieving a determination of competency. Such vocational education may begin at grade nine, ten or eleven. No provision of law shall prohibit concurrent pursuit of a competency determination and vocational learning. There shall be no cause of action for a parent, guardian or student who fails to obtain a competency determination, a certificate of mastery or a certificate of occupational proficiency.
Subject to appropriation, the board shall establish a grant program which shall award grants to school districts for the costs associated with establishing advanced placement courses. The board shall promulgate regulations defining the standards of eligibility and other implementation guidelines.
Subject to appropriation, the board shall establish an advanced placement test fee grant program which shall award grants to school districts for the reimbursement of application fees for students based on financial need in order to assist students with paying the fee for advanced placement tests. The board shall promulgate regulations defining the standards of eligibility and other implementation guidelines for this program.


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Loan Agreement FAQ Canada
The Borrower is the person or corporation that receives value (money, property or some service) from the Lender on the condition that the Borrower will pay the principal amount plus any interest to the Lender at sometime in the future.
The Lender is the person or corporation that gives something of value (money, property or some service) to the Borrower on condition that the Lender will be paid a certain amount in the future.
The governing law is the law of the jurisdiction in which the Loan Agreement will be entered into. Often the parties select the jurisdiction where the Lender resides. If the Loan Agreement relates to the purchase of certain assets, then the location of those assets is selected.
The principal is the original amount of the loan that is owed by the Borrower to the Lender on the date the Loan Agreement is signed. Once the Borrower has begun to pay back the loan, the principal refers to the amount of money still owing to the Lender at any given moment in time.
Interest is an amount charged to a Borrower for the use of the Lender's money. It is usually expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed and is calculated at a specified interval over the course of the term of the Loan Agreement. The interest rate is the annual interest rate.
Compounded refers to how frequently the interest is calculated and added to the principal amount of the loan to arrive at a new balance. The more frequently the interest is calculated, the more interest the Borrower will end up paying to the Lender.
The balance owing in a loan agreement does not need to be repaid until the Lender demands to be repaid. In other words, the loan is repayable 'on demand'. There is no fixed end date for the repayment of the loan. Upon demand, the Borrower is given a certain period of time to repay the outstanding balance of the loan agreement.
The Term is the time length of the loan agreement. At the end of the term, the Borrower must repay the outstanding balance of the loan.
As a shareholder, if you are lending money to the corporation, use our Shareholder Loan Agreement. If you are borrowing money from the corporation, use our Loan Agreement. Use our promissory note if you prefer a more basic and simpler document than the Loan Agreement.
No, the Lender can choose whether or not to charge interest. If the Lender decides to charge interest, they can pick how much interest to charge. However, there may be tax consequences to the Lender or Borrower if interest is charged but it is not a reasonable rate.
There are four options for the method of repayment.
If you do not take collateral, and the Borrower defaults on the loan, you will have to take the Borrower to court in order to recover your money and your judgment can only be enforced against certain assets of the Borrower. However, if you take collateral for the loan agreement, then you may be entitled to seize and sell the collateral if the Borrower fails to repay the loan.
No, if collateral is given for the loan, it can be for any amount. If the Borrower fails to repay the note, and the collateral is worth less than the note, then the Lender can seize the collateral and sue the Borrower for the remaining amount of the loan. If the Lender recovers more than the outstanding balance from the sale of the collateral, any surplus amount would be returned to the Borrower or his other debtors depending upon the situation.
Seller Financing is a loan from a seller to a purchaser where the purchaser does not have the cash to cover some or all of the purchase price of the asset. With Seller Financing, the asset title is transferred to the purchaser who then takes a loan from the seller and grants the seller a security interest in the purchased asset. In the case of a motor vehicle, transferring title of the asset to the purchaser allows the purchaser to acquire insurance and registration. The sole purpose of the loan is to facilitate the purchase of that particular asset. The asset itself is used by the purchaser as collateral for the loan. This means that the Seller could make a claim against the asset if the purchaser should default on one or more loan payments. Also, with Seller Financing, the purchase and sale agreement should contain as much detail as possible regarding the financing particulars including the amount to be financed, the term, the rate of interest and frequency of compounding, the monthly payments, the amortization period as well as any penalties for non-payment.
Yes, by selecting 'Unsure' as the date the agreement will be signed, a blank line will be inserted into the contract so that you can add the correct date after printing the document.
Generally speaking, there is no requirement for a witness or notary public to witness the signing of the Loan Agreement. However, depending on the nature of the loan and the governing law of the jurisdiction in which you're entering into the loan, you may be required to have witnesses or a notary public witness the Loan Agreement. Even if it is not required, having an objective third party witness the signing of the loan agreement will be better evidence when you need to enforce the repayment of the loan. Signing the note in front of a notary public is the best evidence that the Borrower signed the loan agreement.


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EBA of the Day
Eastern Tibet
An Endemic Bird Area (EBA) is defined as an area which encompasses the overlapping breeding ranges of restricted-range species, such that the complete ranges of two or more restricted-range species are entirely included within the boundary of the EBA. This does not necessarily mean that the complete ranges of all of an EBA's restricted-range species are entirely included within the boundary of that single EBA, as some species may be shared between EBAs.
Restricted-range species are defined as all landbirds that have had, throughout historical times (since ornithological recording began after 1800), a total global breeding range estimated at below 50,000km2. Species with historical ranges estimated to be above this threshold, but which have been reduced to below 50,000km2 by habitat loss or other pressures, are not covered as EBAs should represent natural areas of endemism for birds. In the identification of the current list of EBAs, restricted-range landbirds that have become extinct since 1800 were included to help identify areas of high concentrations of endemic species.
For full details of the methodologies used, please see:
Stattersfield, A.J., Crosby, M.J., Long, A.J. and Wege, D.C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World. Priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series 7. Cambridge: BirdLife International.
New information on bird range expansion and contraction becomes available regularly, and the EBA inventory will be updated in the future.


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Media Options
- Jared Bernsteinsenior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. From 2009 to 2011, he served as chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, executive director of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class, and a member of President Obama's economic team.
In his last State of the Union speech before the November election, President Obama defended his record addressing the financial crisis and called for greater economic fairness. He warned that Wall Street would no longer be allowed to play by its own set of rules. But the bulk of the speech dealt with the economy. We get reaction from Jared Bernstein, former chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and past member of President Obama's economic team. Bernstein says that Occupy Wall Street "had a lot to do with" Obama's message of economic fairness: "These issues, I mean, they're called populist now. Frankly, I think they're just basic fairness. I don't know why it's populist to argue that middle-class people should pay a fair tax rate and one that's certainly no higher than that paid by millionaires and billionaires, or for that matter, that economic growth should not be a spectator sport for people in the middle class. [These ideas] haven't broken through in the way that Occupy Wall Street did in a matter of months. So I give them a ton of credit." [includes rush transcript]
NERMEEN SHAIKH: In his last State of the Union speech before the November election, President Obama defended his record addressing the financial crisis and called for greater economic fairness. He warned that Wall Street would no longer be allowed to play by its own set of rules.
On other issues, Obama called for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act. Obama also endorsed expanded offshore oil production and domestic natural gas drilling, while proposing to produce more clean energy on public land. But the bulk of the speech dealt with the economy.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The state of our union is getting stronger. And we've come too far to turn back now. As long as I'm president, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum, but I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place. No, we will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt and phony financial profits. Let's never forget, millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same. It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom. No bailouts, no handouts and no cop outs. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.
AMY GOODMAN: President Obama also said he would form a task force aimed at investigating shoddy mortgage lending practices in addition to forming a special financial crimes unit. Obama also called for a revamp of the nation's tax code.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We need to change our tax code so that people like me and an awful lot of members of Congress pay our fair share of taxes. Tax reform should follow the Buffett rule: if you make more than a million dollars a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes. And my Republican friend Tom Coburn is right: Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires. In fact, if you're earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn't get special tax subsidies or deductions. On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn't go up. You are the ones struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages. You are the ones who need relief. Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.
AMY GOODMAN: To respond President Obama's State of the Union address, we'll hear from two people. Later in the show, we'll speak to longtime consumer advocate, presidential candidate, Ralph Nader. But first we turn to Jared Bernstein. From 2009 to 2011, he served as chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, also served as executive director of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class and was a member of President Obama's economic team. He's now a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Jared Bernstein. Your response to President Obama's address?
JARED BERNSTEIN: Well, thank you for inviting me on.
I thought it was a strong address. It was very much targeted at kind of building on the momentum we have. If you think back to the President's last State of the Union address, there was a lot of talk about winning the future and an ambitious, long-term investment agenda. I heard last night's speech as, I guess you could call it "smaller-bore," in a sense, but I don't see that as problematic in this case. We have an economy that's beginning to recover. I think that's unquestionably in the numbers. But it's still far too weak. We need to build on the momentum we have. And if we don't bring the middle class along with it, as has been the case, by the way—the middle class has been left behind in the last few economic recoveries—then it's not going to be at all the kind of blueprint the President envisioned. So I think it was important on those—on both of those issues.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Jared Bernstein, I want to turn to one of the comments that Obama made about outsourcing. Early in his State of the Union address, he said businesses who want to outsource jobs shouldn't get tax breaks.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: So, we have a huge opportunity, at this moment, to bring manufacturing back. But we have to seize it. Tonight my message to business leaders is simple: ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed. We should start with our tax code. Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense. And everyone knows it.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Jared Bernstein, your response?
JARED BERNSTEIN: Well, he's absolutely right. It's actually more advantageous in the tax code to build a factory in a province in China than it is in Cleveland, Illinois—I mean, Cleveland, Ohio, sorry, or Illinois. And the reason is because we have all this favorable treatment in the tax code for multinationals that engage in overseas investment. And as the President said, that doesn't make any sense. Now, he's been trying to close these tax loopholes since I was a member of the economic team back in—starting in the beginning of his term. It's been in every one of his budgets. What he introduced last night that was a little bit new was something called a kind of a minimum tax that you would have to pay on your overseas earnings so that you couldn't defer them, basically, hold them overseas, and keep them out of the American tax system.
The other point we should emphasize here is that he's trying to tap something that's happening anyway in the marketplace. Many producers will tell you that we have overshot in terms of outsourcing, kind of overdone that outsourcing trend. Given the cost differentials between production abroad and production here, given the rising costs of transportation to bring the production back here, there is a bit of a nascent insourcing movement going on anyway, so he's trying to tap that trend and amplify it.
AMY GOODMAN: Jared Bernstein, Bob Kuttner, the editor of American Prospect, said to solve the housing problem "would require a New Deal-scale break-up and recapitalization of several large banks. But the people making economic policy for this administration will not touch that idea with a rake." No matter how President Obama sounded like last night, very much as a populist, the issue is his record. What do you make of what Robert Kuttner said?
JARED BERNSTEIN: Well, it's true that the President doesn't have anything that ambitious in terms of, say, taking over any banks, in terms of housing policy. I don't know—I guess I would say that I don't know that that is what it's going to take to resolve this. I do think more aggressive action is obviously needed. The President talked last night about a large refinancing program. You know, we have very low interest rates, but millions of homeowners can't refinance into those lower home loans, having a lot to do with the nature of the credit system right now. Without legislation, that's not going to happen, and Congress isn't going to give him legislation. So, while Bob has a solid point, we have to think about ways to try to crack this nut probably without Congress, at least for the time being. There are ways to do that. The FHFA—that's the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—has things it can do. And the administration, what they really ought to be doing, is pushing very hard on FHFA to get them to do principal reductions on the millions of mortgages they hold or insure. I think Bob would probably agree with that.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Jared Bernstein, how much do you think, if at all, the Occupy Wall Street movement had to do with the tone that the President struck last night?
JARED BERNSTEIN: Well, it's a great question. I think they had a lot to do with it. I mean, I've been talking about these issues—I mean, they're called populist now. Frankly, I think they're just basic fairness. I don't know why it's populist to argue that middle-class people should pay a fair tax rate and one that's certainly no higher than that paid by millionaires and billionaires, or for that matter, that economic growth should not be a spectator sport for people in the middle class. So, you know, nowadays, that's populism or even class warfare. No, I've been talking about these issues for three decades and haven't broken through in the way that Occupy Wall Street did in a matter of months. So I give them a ton of credit for doing what it is, by the way, that they will tell you they set out to do, which is to engage the nation in a conversation about these issues.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, on the issue of you having been an insider, and now you're outside—you were the top economic adviser to Vice President Biden—how much are they listening to what's going on outside and the frustration that people feel that this is the way President Obama sounded when he was running for president—
JARED BERNSTEIN: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: —but that when he became president, he surrounded himself by Wall Street, I mean, epitomized by Tim Geithner, a former Republican who changed so he could, you know, be the top economic czar for the Obama administration?
JARED BERNSTEIN: I think they're listening more closely to these kinds of issues than they've ever been, much like I emphasized in my last response. And I credit Occupy Wall Street, but it's not just OWS, it's also the overreach by conservatives. I mean, I think the idea that somehow the solution to all the problems we've been talking about for the last few minutes are lower taxes for the wealthiest among us, are less regulation for financial markets, are, you know, tearing down what we've built up in terms of financial reform, getting rid of the healthcare measures that the President has managed to legislate, that—the idea—the kind of the intersection of economic trends that have left the middle behind, the rise of Occupy Wall Street, and the overreach among conservatives, I think, are creating an extremely important and unique moment for precisely that kind of policy agenda that the President presented last night.
AMY GOODMAN: Jared Bernstein, we thank you so much for being with us, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
JARED BERNSTEIN: My pleasure.
AMY GOODMAN: From 2009 to '11, he served as chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we'll hear from former presidential candidate, well-known consumer activist, Ralph Nader. Stay with us.


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84 Or. L. Rev. 317, 2005.
PRO BONO SPOTLIGHTThis Brooklyn-based nonprofit uplifts parents of special needs kids, aided by Foster Garvey's pro bono efforts.
COMMITMENT TO DEIFoster Garvey's Opportunity & Progress Council champions diversity, equity and inclusion through strategic initiatives and partnerships.
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Repeal of Glass-Steagall: Not a cause, but a multiplier
Barry Ritholtz
Washington Post, August 5, 2012
When the Titanic set sail from Southampton on April 10, 1912, bound for New York, it was called "unsinkable." This was before that chance encounter in the North Atlantic with a large iceberg. You know how that movie ended.
Many people died, of course, because there were too few lifeboats. But even if the luxury liner had four times as many, the Titanic still would have ended up on the bottom of the ocean, done in by a captain more concerned with speed than safety — and that iceberg.
This simple reality, however, obscures a broader truth.
Before it sank, more than 700 passengers loaded onto the 20 lifeboats on board and escaped with their lives. More than 1,500 others died. The Titanic had the capacity for 64 lifeboats, which could each hold 65 people. Fully loaded, they could have carried more than 4,000 to safety — or every man, woman and child aboard. Thus, many more could have survived.
While the shortage of lifeboats didn't cause the sinking, this insufficiency after the crash was a factor in the 1,502 deaths.
I was reminded of this recently after reading articles that argued over the role the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act played in the financial crisis. The Depression-era regulation that separated Main Street banks from Wall Street investment firms had a huge impact on the finance sector.
The repeal of Glass-Steagall may not have caused the crisis — but its repeal was a factor that made it much worse. And it was a continuum of the radical deregulation movement. This philosophy incorrectly held that banks could regulate themselves, that government had no place in overseeing finance and that the free market works best when left alone. This belief system manifested itself in damaging ways, including eliminating regulation and oversight on derivatives, allowing exemptions for excess leverage rules for a handful of players and creating dangerous legislation.
As the events of 2007 to 2009 have revealed, this erroneous belief system was a major factor leading to the credit boom and bust, as well as the financial collapse.
I have been unable to find any evidence that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act — the legislation that repealed Glass-Steagall — was a primary cause of the financial crisis. Imagine a "but for" scenario where Glass-Steagall had not been overturned but the rest of the deregulatory actions had still taken place. Would the crisis have occurred? Without a doubt, yes.
The Fed still would have taken rates down to unprecedented low levels. This would have led to a global spiral in asset prices. The nonbank, lend-to-sell-to-securitizer mortgage originators were still going to make subprime-mortgage loans to unqualified borrowers. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers would still have overwhelmingly increased exposure to subprime mortgages. AIG would still have written trillions of dollars in credit-default swaps and other derivatives with zero reserves set against them. The largest security firms and deposit banks would still have charged headlong into the subprime securitization business. And Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would still have belatedly chased these banks into the same subprime market, just at the peak of the housing boom.
Lastly, housing prices would still have run up to absurd levels and then collapsed.
So no, the repeal of Glass-Steagall was not a proximate cause of the crisis. But its impact was both nuanced and complex. Consider the context in which it occurred:
● The repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999 was part of a broad deregulatory push, championed by the likes of Fed chief Alan Greenspan, Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, that eliminated much of the oversight on Wall Street. Freed from onerous regulation, the banks could "innovate" and grow.
● After the repeal, banks merged into more complex and more leveraged institutions.
● These banks, which were customers of nonbank firms such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, in turn contributed to these firms bulking up their subprime holdings as well. This turned out to be speculative and dangerous.
So we can say that Glass-Steagall's repeal allowed the credit bubble to inflate much larger. It allowed banks to be more complex and difficult to manage. When it all came down, the crisis was broader, deeper and more dangerous than it would have been otherwise.
Glass-Steagall's repeal, after 25 years and $300 million worth of lobbying efforts, culminated decades of deregulation.
Newfangled derivatives? No oversight, reporting or reserves necessary, courtesy of the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Subprime-lend-to-sell-to-securitizers business model? Those are the financial innovators! At least, that is what Greenspan called them, and why he refused to oversee them as Fed chairman. Rules on SEC leverage? Let's create a special exemption from the law for just five investment banks.
Of course "reputational risk" would serve as a deterrent to poor decision making! No bank would ever behave so recklessly as to put their own hard-won status on the line — or its very existence.
How'd that idea work out?
With Glass-Steagall, there would not, could not, have been a Citi/Travelers merger, and competitors would not, could not have bulked up the way they did. Major money center banks most likely would have been smaller, more manageable, more easily wound down. Arguably, too big to fail might not have been the rule, and bailouts might not have been necessary. This is, of course, mere supposition.
What we should be discussing is the corrupting influence of crony capitalism and radical deregulation. Instead, we find ourselves forced to defend capitalism and free markets. We should be finding ways to definancialize the U.S. economy and reduce bankers' influence.
There are lots of thing we can do about this, but I have a modest suggestion that would be a good start: No more Wall Street bankers as Treasury secretaries. It would be much better for the nation to find someone from industry who understands finance rather than finding someone from finance who understands industry.
Consider where we would be today if we put Citi and Bank of America into prepackaged bankruptcy (as was done with GM). It would have been much more painful, but ultimately, much healthier.
The past 50 years have seen a dramatic financialization of the American economy. Wall Street has morphed from serving industry to a Titanic leaving a damaged economy in its wake.
Ritholtz is chief executive of FusionIQ, a quantitative research firm. He is the author of "Bailout Nation" and runs a finance blog, the Big Picture. Twitter: @Ritholtz


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Game Type : Action / Shooter
Developer : Flying Oak Games
Developer Description : NeuroVoider is a twin-stick shooter RPG set in a cyber futuristic world about brains shooting around evil robots with nuclear rocket launchers. Battle through the horde of vigilant robots, boost your character with the smoking remains of your victims, and defeat the master NeuroVoider to end this eternal war. Play it coop with up to 4 friends, or go alone in an adventure of hack'n'slash rampage, with a pinch of rogue-lite, and some permadeath.
- Action packed top-down shooting. May include explosions.
- Local multiplayer up to 4 players. Total coop rampage.
- Procedurally generated content and hazards. Hope you don't mind a few game overs.
- 8736 unique enemies to blow up. Yes, we counted.
- Tons of loot to customize your character with. Explode your foes with that "double twin-plasma shotgun of father doom" you've just dropped.
- Gigantic bosses to challenge your bullet dodging skills. Chances are that they don't fit on your 4K monitor.
- Powerful dark synth music by Dan Terminus. May your ears survive the beat.
Links : 1) Discussion 2) Website


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Date(s) - 01/18/2020
12:00 am
River Walk Center
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Come enjoy the beautiful view at the River Walk Center City of Fort Pierce, and have dinner & dessert with some of the best South Florida food trucks! Trucks will be serving from 5:00 – 9:00 PM. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and join us!!


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Understanding Fire Hazards with Catalyst-Equipped Cars
U.S. EPA publication on the history and precautions associated with automobile catalyst systems.
U.S. EPA Publication "Review of Catalyst Overheating Issue" March, 1983
- History
- How Catalytic Converters Get Hot
- Precautions To Take
- Fires May Still Happen
- What Can Be Done in the Future
- What You Can Do
Many 1975 and later model year automobiles are equipped with catalytic converters which serve as a primary means for reducing the emissions of air pollutants from these cars. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received reports concerning over-temperature problems or fire hazards from catalytic converters. This fact sheet has been prepared to respond efficiently to such inquiries.
How Catalytic Converters Get Hot
Catalysts reduce emissions by accelerating the combustion of pollutants leaving the engine. In doing this job, they get hot. The outside metal temperatures of some types of converters may approach 800 to 1000 F under conditions of extremely high engine loading. However, measurements by the United States Forest Service have shown surface temperatures equally as high in the exhaust systems of pre-1975 cars at extreme engine load conditions. Therefore, with this discovery, catalytic converter surface temperatures do not represent a new type of problem for automobile manufacturers and users as long as the engine is running properly.
However, if there is a partial ignition system failure, such as one or more misfiring spark plug or defective ignition wires, the temperatures of the catalytic converter surfaces and the exhaust system downstream from the converter may reach 1200 to 1400 F. This is because of the abnormal amount of unburned fuel delivered by the nonfiring cylinders. Further, once hot, the converter will take longer to cool off than other parts of the exhaust system because of its greater mass. This points out the need for careful attention to vehicle maintenance and alertness by vehicle owners to any signs of abnormal engine operation.
Precautions To Take
The EPA regulations require that any emission control system used by vehicle manufacturers "shall not in its operation, function, or malfunction result in unsafe conditions endangering the motor vehicle, its occupants, or persons or property in close proximity to the vehicle."
The vehicle manufacturers are aware of the need to provide protection from possible hazards or discomfort associated with high catalyst temperatures for both the vehicle occupants and vehicle components. In addition, protection is also necessary to avert possible fire hazards associated with driving vehicles through tall grass or other vegetation. The exact means taken by the different manufacturers to provide high temperature protection vary, and include such approaches as insulating the entire catalytic reactor so that the outside surfaces are not hotter than mufflers, installing protective metal shields between the converter shell and vegetation, and using thicker carpeting materials inside the car to protect the occupants from experiencing high floorboard temperatures. In addition, some cars have temperature-sensing devices to deactivate the catalytic reactor or alert the driver to abnormally high temperatures, which might be caused by misfiring spark plugs, etc.
Fires May Still Happen
The EPA has received reports of vehicle and vegetation fires in which catalysts were involved from both vehicle owners and from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an organization which has been monitoring the frequency of such incidents with individual manufacturers. In some cases, it appears that combustible undercoating material had been applied to the catalyst and other exhaust system hardware. In most cases, vehicles were also reported to have been running badly with evidence of nonfiring spark plugs or other ignition system defects. If an abnormal amount of unburned fuel is fed to any catalyst, which occurs when the engine is misfiring in one or more cylinders, the catalyst will attempt to "do its job" by burning this fuel instead of simply expelling it out the exhaust pipe as the case with older cars. When this happens, the surface temperature of the catalyst container and the exhaust pipe can become abnormally hot, possibly leading to charring or burning of undercoating inadvertently sprayed on the catalyst or exhaust system, charring of floor mats in the car, or ignition of dry vegetation if the vehicle is operated off-road. Vehicle service manuals caution against applying undercoating on the catalyst of exhaust systems.
It should be noted that vegetation fires caused by hot automobile exhaust systems occurred before the advent of catalyst-equipped cars, and will occur in the future. The Forest Service has periodically conducted tests of cars for fire hazards since 1967 because of the long-standing concern by that agency over vehicle-induced fires in national forest recreational areas.
What Can Be Done in the Future
The EPA and NHTSA have been monitoring closely the frequency and type of such incidents. The NHTSA, on the basis of a review completed in December 1976, concluded that "the rate and nature of catalytic converter incidents do not present an unreasonable risk of health or injury to the public." The EPA will continue to require manufacturers to design their vehicles so that when properly operated and maintained they will pose no hazard to either life or property.
What You Can Do
If you keep your car properly maintained as recommended in your owners manual, you should normally have no problems. If you notice the engine running rough, you may have a misfiring spark plug. Be sure to have that checked promptly, not only to avoid catalyst overheating but also to restore good performance and save fuel.
Never park a catalyst-equipped car, or any car, on a pile of dry leaves or other dry vegetation. Normal caution in how you use your car is all that is needed to avoid catalyst fires.


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July 9, 2018
Tools for Field Staff›Manuals
Better Parenting Curriculum: Community Discussion Guide
"Better Parenting Nigeria" is a parenting education curriculum for building caregiver protective factors in order to help parents provide better support to children. Its goals are...More
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Google said Monday its basic services on Huawei smartphones still will function following U.S. sales curbs, but the Chinese tech giant faces the possible loss of other features and support.
The announcement highlighted the growing damage to Huawei from Washington's order. The company has said until now U.S. accusations it is a security threat have had little impact on sales outside the United States.
Huawei Technologies Ltd., which uses Google's Android operating system in its smartphones, said it would continue to provide security updates and service. It gave no indication which map, photo or other services they might lose.
The Trump administration's order targets China's first global tech brand and ratchets up disputes with Beijing over technology, trade and cyber-security.
Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., said it is complying with and "reviewing the implications" of the requirement for export licenses for technology sales to Huawei, which took effect Thursday.
"We assure you while we are complying with all US gov't requirements, services like Google Play & security from Google Play Protect will keep functioning on your existing Huawei device," said Google on Twitter.
Google allows smartphone manufacturers to use Android and its basic services for free. But transfer of hardware, software or services to Huawei or technical interaction would be restricted by the U.S. order.
U.S. & World
That would strip Huawei phones of Google maps and other services that require direct support. That might hurt Huawei where consumers can pick other brands that carry the full suite of Google features.
Those who follow the industry closely say that it is unclear what damage, if any, will be suffered by Huawei.
Ben Wood, Chief of Research at CCS Insight, said it's unclear what Google told Huawei, but any disruption in getting updates to software would have "considerable implications" for its consumer device business.
"Google has publicly stated that its App Store, Google Play, and security updates from Google Play Protect will continue working on existing Huawei devices," Wood said Monday. "However, until we have a clear understanding of what exact measures Google has decided to take it is impossible to second guess the impact on future devices."
The U.S. government says Chinese suppliers including Huawei and its smaller rival, ZTE Corp., pose an espionage threat because they are beholden to China's ruling Communist Party. But American officials have presented no evidence of any Huawei equipment serving as intentional conduits for espionage by Beijing.
Huawei, headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong, reported earlier its global sales rose 19.5% last year over 2017 to 721.2 billion ($105.2 billion). Profit rose 25.1% to 59.3 billion yuan ($8.6 billion).
Huawei smartphone shipments rose 50 percent over a year earlier in the first three months of 2019 to 59.1 million, while the global industry's total fell 6.6 percent, according to IDC. Shipments by industry leader Samsung and No. 3 Apple declined.
Huawei defended itself Monday as "one of Android's key global partners." The company said it helped to develop a system that "benefited both users and the industry."
"We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally," said a company statement.
A foreign ministry spokesman said China will "monitor the development of the situation" but gave no indication how Beijing might respond.
The government said it would take steps to protect the rights of Chinese companies abroad following last week's announcement but has given no indication what it might do.
"China supports Chinese companies to take up legal weapons to defend their legitimate rights," said the spokesman, Lu Kang.
The U.S. order took effect Thursday and requires government approval for all purchases of American microchips, software and other components globally by Huawei and 68 affiliated businesses. Huawei says that amounted to $11 billion in goods last year.
That could certainly create some collateral damage for U.S. companies.
The California chipmaker Xilinx Inc. tumbled 5 percent before the opening bell Monday.
"We think that the US government action against Huawei creates risk for chip companies that might have high exposure to Huawei," wrote David Wong, an analyst with Nomura. "To our knowledge, Xilinx has never identified Huawei by name as a major customer that is driving its recent wireless strength. Nevertheless, Xilinx has undoubtedly been benefiting recently from strength in demand for chips used in 5G wireless base stations, and we think that action against a major maker of communications infrastructure equipment like Huawei likely poses risk for Xilinx."


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An early intervening system called Recognition & Response
Can teachers and parents of three- and four-year-old children recognize early warning signs of learning disabilities and intervene to mitigate or prevent the disability down the road? This was the question posed by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation to a diverse group of early childhood researchers, policymakers, administrators, and practitioners. Led by the FPG Child Development Institute (FPG), the group is using the principles of evidence-based practice to come up with an answer. The result is the creation of a dynamic systemic approach to addressing the needs of young children — Recognition & Response.
"Typically, the evidence base is established retroactively through evaluation of an intervention," said Mary Ruth Coleman, Ph.D., FPG senior scientist and project co-director. "We quickly recognized that developing the evidence base for Recognition & Response from the onset would provide a powerful lens through which to develop innovations in the field."
Step one: Research — what do we know?
With little existing information on the identification of learning disabilities for three- and four-year-olds and appropriate interventions for this age group, researchers looked to the Response to Intervention (RTI) movement used with school-age children for guidance.
In the past decade, RTI has changed dramatically how schools approach children who have characteristics of learning disabilities. Previously, children had to be formally diagnosed and labeled in order to access special education services. To be labeled as learning disabled, a child had to demonstrate a measurable discrepancy between his or her aptitude and academic achievement — something that typically does not occur until the second or third grade.
With RTI, labeling might be an end result, but not the trigger for assistance. "RTI essentially says why wait for a label? Why not intervene as soon as we see that a child is struggling to learn?" said Virginia Buysse, Ph.D., FPG senior scientist and project co-director. "If the child does well with extra support in the classroom, then the child may be able to avoid labeling and special education altogether."
RTI emphasizes early intervening rather than waiting until children fail. Teachers use early and intensive interventions in the general education classroom before they refer children with learning difficulties for further assessment and special education services. A major premise of RTI is that early intervening can prevent academic problems for many students and determine which students actually have learning disabilities versus those whose underachievement can be attributed to other factors, such as inadequate instruction.
The key components of RTI (and Recognition & Response) are systematic screening and progress monitoring, the use of multiple tiers of increasingly intense interventions, and a problem-solving process to aid in decision- making. In both approaches (RTI and Recognition & Response), there is an emphasis on using interventions that have been found to be effective through scientific research and on linking assessment results to interventions that are specifically tailored to address individual needs.
In the first tier of RTI, all children in a class are screened to determine if the curriculum and instruction are meeting their educational needs. If the majority of the children in a particular classroom meet predetermined benchmarks in academics and behavior, then the general education curriculum is presumed to be of sufficient quality. For children who are not meeting those benchmarks, the teacher employs a second tier intervention by modifying the curriculum or teaching methods for these children in ways that are minimally disruptive to classroom routines.
For children whose educational needs still are not being met, the teacher uses a third intervention tier of individualized instruction. A small number (perhaps 5 percent or less) will not respond to any classroom interventions and would be referred for special education services.
The RTI process requires collaboration between classroom teachers and specialists, continuous monitoring of individual progress, and research-based instruction and curriculum. In the past such cooperation would have been difficult because schools were not allowed to combine different sources of money to serve the same child, largely because educators faced an uphill battle to provide special education services. Policymakers feared that if money was not earmarked specifically for special education, it would be thrown into the school's general funds at the expense of children with disabilities.
Schools are finally at a place where resources can be streamlined to maximize benefit. As a result, RTI is permitted under the new funding rules of the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004.
"Children's needs are better met if we pool resources rather than fragment them. This is the pragmatic part of RTI. It allows you to blend resources and funding so that schools can better meet the needs of all children," Coleman said. "Children access supports in the general education classroom based on need and not a label."
Most importantly, there are some indications that RTI is working. A research synthesis conducted by Coleman, Buysse, and Neitzel on 14 studies concluded that there is an emerging body of empirical evidence to support claims of the effectiveness of RTI. The findings suggested that RTI is effective for identifying children at risk for learning disabilities and for providing specialized interventions, either to ameliorate or to prevent the occurrence of learning disabilities.
The authors noted that the synthesis findings are limited by variability across studies in how RTI was defined, implemented, and evaluated. Despite the limitations, the findings suggest that RTI is a promising approach, particularly because of its focus on sound instructional principles such as intervening early, using research-based interventions, monitoring student progress, and using assessments to inform instructional decisions. The authors concluded that intervening in kindergarten, and possibly earlier, is a promising practice that could produce positive outcomes for young children who are at risk for learning disabilities, but additional research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of this model for this age group.
Step two: Critical contexts — what's happening in the early childhood field?
Research paints only part of the picture. Any system for preschoolers must take into account the world in which it will operate. What are the values, beliefs, and recommended practices in the early childhood field about the best way to address learning difficulties in young children and how do these fit with the proposed Recognition & Response system?
"At every step, we had conversations with our partners about what this would look like in practice, what concerns teachers and parents might have, how the proposed system fit with current program practices and standards, and whether it made sense in the real world," Buysse said. "We are continuing to ask these questions to make sure that our efforts are grounded in practice."
Quality tops the list. Time and again, research has validated the importance of quality early childcare and the long-term benefits for children. Professional organizations have responded. For example, the National Association for the Education of Young Children established a national, voluntary accreditation system to set professional standards for early childhood education programs and to help families identify high-quality programs.
School readiness is another key context that came to the forefront in 1991 with the National Education Goals Panel. The panel stated as its first goal that "all children in America will start school ready to learn." A smooth transition to kindergarten has been identified as critical to early school success. This recognition has given birth to a movement to create public early education programs. Today, most states offer some form of public pre-k. The Tremaine partners quickly recognized the importance of linking the Recognition & Response system to efforts aimed at improving children's school readiness outcomes.
With the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1986, policymakers recognized the importance of early intervention. For the first time states were required to provide free and appropriate public education and related services for children ages three through five with developmental delays or disabilities (Part B-Section 619 Preschool Program). In addition, states had to develop a comprehensive system of early intervention services for children birth to three years with developmental delays or disabilities (Part C Infant-Toddler Program). The partners in the Recognition & Response initiative realized that any new system for early intervening would have to be coordinated with existing Part B-Section 619 (Preschool) and Part C (Infant-Toddler) services.
Step three: Research and professional wisdom come together
The melding of research and the field's collective wisdom and values yielded what FPG and its partners have called Recognition & Response. This new system is specific to the needs of young children. It is not a replica of RTI; but it does benefit from RTI's existing empirical evidence and its widespread support in the education field.
Recognition & Response is based on the premise that parents and teachers can learn to recognize early warning signs and respond in ways that positively affect a child's early school success. This effort is critical because three- and four-year-old children who exhibit the precursors of learning disabilities — impulsivity, distractibility, speech and language delays, visual and auditory processing delays, and phonological processing deficits — generally do not meet the eligibility criteria for having a learning disability under state and federal guidelines.
The goal of Recognition & Response is to create high quality early childhood classrooms in which teachers administer periodic, universal screening for all children and research-based interventions and progress monitoring for individual children who show signs of learning difficulties.
Tier 1: Universal periodic screening
This tier provides teachers with the means of determining whether instruction for the whole class may need to be modified and helps them identify children who require additional supports. Teachers conduct universal periodic screening in key language and early literacy skills to (a) determine whether most children are learning in an expected manner and (b) identify children who need additional supports. Adjustments to the general education curriculum to improve program quality may be required in classrooms in which the majority of children do not meet learning benchmarks.
The project is developing a first-of-its kind screening tool (the Recognition & Response Observation and Rating Scale; RRORS) that will allow teachers and parents to document observations of children in natural settings to identify potential learning difficulties.
Tier 2: Group interventions
In tier 2, teachers provide standard research-based interventions that require minimum adjustments to classroom routines to targeted groups of children who do not make adequate progress in tier 1. Group interventions, such as teaching phoneme segmenting to three or four children with frequent opportunities to practice this skill through embedded classroom activities, are selected from a set of standardized research-based interventions.
Tier 3: Individualized interventions and referral
In tier 3, teachers implement more intensive and individualized instruction for children who do not make adequate progress in tier 2. An example of a tier 3 intervention would be the teacher working individually with a child using direct instruction and prompting. Children who do not make adequate progress in tier 3 may need to be referred for formal evaluation of learning disabilities or other special needs.
To make decisions about when to move from one tier to the next or to select particular intervention strategies, teachers should rely on a collaborative problem-solving process with parents and specialists.
At this time, specific guidelines for implementing Recognition & Response do not exist, although efforts are underway to create manuals that specify each of the components and to create the tools and resources needed to implement each component as part of an integrated system.
"There are two key principles behind Recognition & Response," Coleman added. "It is never appropriate to deny a special education label when we have the evidence that one is needed. And it is never appropriate to deny classroom support that we know would be beneficial because the label is not attached."
Recognition & Response exemplifies an evidence-based approach to developing innovations in the early childhood field. Rather than being an academic exercise, this collaborative effort reflects the real challenges of moving evidence-based concepts from theory into practice. The goal of this initiative in the coming years is to develop the resources and processes that will serve as the infrastructure for implementing Recognition & Response in practice.
FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (2007, Spring). RTI Goes to Pre-K: An early intervening system called Recognition & Response. Early Developments, 11(1), 6-10.


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Patient Rights and Responsibilities
Patients' Bill of Rights
- A patient has the right to be treated with courtesy and respect, with appreciation of his or her individual dignity, and with protection of his or her need for privacy.
- A patient has the right to a prompt and reasonable response to questions and requests.
- A patient has the right to know what rules and regulations apply to his or her conduct.
- A patient has the right to be given by the health care provider information concerning diagnosis, planned course of treatment, alternatives, risks, and prognosis.
- A patient has the right to refuse any treatment, except as otherwise provided by law.
- A patient has the right to be given, upon request, full information and necessary counseling on the availability of known financial resources for his or her urgent care.
- A patient has the right to receive, upon request, prior to treatment, a reasonable estimate of charges for medical care.
- A patient has the right to receive a copy of a reasonably clear and understandable, itemized bill and, upon request, to have the charges explained.
- A patient has the right to impartial access to medical treatment or accommodations, regardless of race, national origin, religion, physical handicap, or source of payment.
- A patient has the right to treatment for any emergency medical condition that will deteriorate from failure to provide treatment.
- A patient is responsible for reporting unexpected changes in his or her condition to the health care provider.
- A patient is responsible for his or her actions if he or she refuses treatment or does not follow the health care provider's instructions.
- A patient is responsible for assuring that the financial obligation for his or her health care are fulfilled as promptly as possible.
- A patient is responsible for following health care facility rules and regulations affecting patient care and conduct.
- A patient is responsible for providing to the health care provider, to the best of his or her knowledge, accurate and complete information about present complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications, and other matters relating to his or her health.
- A patient has the right to express grievances regarding any violation of his or her rights, as stated in law, through the grievance procedure of the health care provider which served him or her and to the appropriate state licensing agency.
- Patients are provided, to the degree known, complete information concerning their diagnosis, evaluation, treatment and prognosis. When it is medically inadvisable to give such information to a patient the information is provided to a person designated by the patient or to a legally authorized person.
- Patients are given the opportunity to participate in decisions involving their healthcare, except when such participation is contraindicated for medical reasons.
Statement of Patients' Rights
- Know the names of your healthcare providers.
- Be involved in the planning of your care and treatment, including pain management, in collaboration with your physician and treatment team.
- Information to enable you to make treatment decisions that reflect your wishes.
- Accept medical care or to refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law and to be informed of the medical consequences of such refusal.
- Have all records concerning your care or illness to be treated confidentially, with personal privacy respected. You have the right to access information contained in your clinical records within a reasonable time period and in accordance with federal HIPAA policies and procedures.
- Receive prompt and reasonable responses to your requests for service.
- Considerate, safe and respectful care; and to be free from abuse or harassment.
- Have impartial access to care regardless of race, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, physical disability, or source of payment.
- Request a consultation or second opinion from another physician.
- Review your urgent care bill and receive an explanation of the charges.
- Express a compliment and/or concern pertaining to your care or treatment. Your compliments/concerns may be directed to Medical Director, physician, medical staff, Center Administrator or be given to opportunity to complete a Patient Satisfaction Survey in person or anonymously.
Statement of Patients' Responsibilities
You have the responsibility of/for:
- Providing accurate and complete information about your illness and medical history including present complaints, past illnesses and hospitalization, medications, and other matters related to your health.
- Knowing and following urgent care center rules and regulations; i.e. smoking and use of electrical equipment.
- Following your physician's prescribed plan of treatment, care and services.
- Notifying your physician or medical assistant if you do not understand your diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis.
- Any consequences and other adverse outcomes if you refuse treatments or do not follow physician's prescribed treatment plan.
- Being considerate of other patients' rights, privacy, and property, and in assisting with noise control and the number of visitors you receive.
- Fulfilling your financial obligations associated with your health care.
- Advising your medical assistant or physician of any concern, dissatisfaction, or safety issues you may have in regard to your care while visiting our urgent care center.
- Safeguarding any valuables or personal belongings.
- Cooperating with your Health Care Team to maintain your and your family's safety, e.g. calling for assistance when needed or as instructed.
- Be knowledgeable of your medical insurance benefits plan and your obligations regarding deductibles, co-payments, pre-authorization requirements, etc.


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Mar Saba and mount Azazel: the desert of the Holy City
Hiking in the desert of hermits
Due to the unprecedented success of previous trips to the desert of the Holy City – that is, Judea – and its pearl the monastery of Mar Saba and the mount Azazel, I again declare the draft of the brave and courageous, who are willing to overcome themselves and the 20 km of the desert. While the forecasts are magical and the Mar Saba is embraced by cumulus clouds, it is not too hot, not too cold, and all the hermits of the world recommend the 20-kilometer trek. So I invite everyone to join one of the most incredible and memorable journey through the most beautiful desert in Israel, and visit places that you definitely will tell about to your children and grandchildren!
Have you ever been flogged for eating apples? Have anyone brought to your feet in a silver casket the relics of one of the most famous and the great hermit monks? Have you fallen at least once in your life in a bubbling stream of the gutter? Have you heard anything about talking donkeys and mysterious bottom cells, where you only go with a candle? Do you know where the scapegoat was taken and from where the image of Satan appeared in Judaism? If the answers to any of these questions are 'no', you simply have to visit one of the most difficult to reach, and certainly the most beautiful monastery in the Judean desert – Mar Saba – and climb the mountain Azazel (a.k.a Muntar).
I guess I'll never stop to admire its beauty and grandeur, which is not able to be shown by any picture of the world. However, enough praises.
The Mar Saba, being as I have said, the most beautiful monastery, continues to lead the ranking of the trash institutions in Israel. Only here, in the middle of the Judean desert, on the slope of Kidron, you can hear chilling stories about the secret life of the monks, miracles, extraordinary events, and listen to some modern music CDs.
Mar Saba is not just some hick monastery, which has about a dozen of some renegade monks. Mar Saba is the ideology, the last bastion of faith, style, prestige and a long waiting list for perspective residents. For centuries, the monks managed to preserve not only the ascetic way of life, but also the special status of the monastery. This is due, in part, to difficulties in access to its gates, which makes Mar Saba almost the only truly reclusive monastery of Israel, and secondly, with the careful selection of the "guests". Sometimes church leaders spend years waiting for permission to enter the walls of the monastery and consider the receipt of one for the great honor and trust of the Patriarchate. And this is what the monks of the monastery write about the life of Sava: "The meeting with the angels for St. Sava was apparently an usual phenomenon for him" Indeed, for a long life as a monk in the Holy Land, Sava managed to come across not only the angels, but also with talking donkeys, tempting apples and the magic date palms.
After visiting the monastery and communicating with its inhabitants, we will head to the mountain Muntar, the highest point of the Judean desert. According to the Jewish tradition, from its top at the Temple times the so-called "scapegoat" was thrown down, which, in the allegorical interpretation, was to show the redemption of the people and its purification on Yom Kippur.
At sunset, we will complete the track and get back to our cars.
Our program:
- hike through the Judean Desert (about 20 kilometers both ways)
- crossing of Kidron stream
- visit to Mar Saba*
- climb to Mount Azazel (Mount Muntar), from which, according to tradition, the unfortunate scapegoat was thrown
- fantastic views for photographers
- long conversations about the hermits and other cool things about the life in the desert (we will have enough time for this), and local stories
- coffee/tea
- kissing the relics at the request of the participants
- Entrance to the monastery for women is strictly forbidden, only men are allowed in. Women waiting outside will have fun conversations with the monks, listen to the Mar-Saba CDs, read the local self-published literature, climb to cells, inspect the monastery from the top, bottom, side, wherever. In short, women will not feel deprived.
- starting of a circular route from the settlement of Kedar South (we will park cars there at the secure lot)
- length of the route – 20 km
- all participants must be in decent physical shape!
- approach to the monastery is located in the territories of C and B, and are totally OK to be visited by Israelis
- For people that have no car, I will try to find a ride (you will need to share gas costs with a driver)
- Meeting point: Kedar South settlement. Yes, it is safe for your cars.
- Meeting time: 8:00 am, March 8
- Completion of the program: about 5-6 pm we will be at our cars
- Food for snacking during the hike
- Water: at least 6 liters per person. Required!
- Sunscreen and a hat. Required.
- Men and women will need modest clothing – long pants, long sleeves – to visit the monastery. You can use any spare shirt or a sweater that you can take off later.
- Comfortable shoes, band-aid in the case if you rub your feet.
- If you wish, feel free to take alpenstocks (walking sticks).